According to the data, these are the best free knowledge-base software tools available. Most other articles give you a random or subjective ordering of “Best” software tools, but not here. This article is based on intensive research of more than 50 knowledge-base platforms. All features and company attributes were compared and contrasted to come up with these top 5 plus three runners up.
Now, remember, “Best” is actually a subjective statement. Depending on your needs, you may come up with a different selection of top free knowledge-base platforms. Due to the way the research was conducted, it is possible to layer on your own feature-specific importance weighting for each feature and attribute of these tools. A great recommendation: Take advantage of our custom knowledge base platforms survey so you can input your own importance rating for each feature.
We also have domain authority data which serves as a good indicator of overall popularity. If you think of any tools that we should have included in our comparison analysis let us know in the comments below.
We found 17 free knowledge-base platforms. We list the top five tools here, along with three runners up.
As of this writing, we are not incentivized in any way by any of these knowledge-base software companies. The data here is accurate as of April, 2021. Please see our original research publication on Knowledge Base Platforms that is always kept up-to-date.
So without further ado, we present to you our evidence-backed ordered listing of the top five free knowledge-base platforms:
Multiple Business Roles (SMEs, Developers, Admins, Editors, etc.)
Easy Article Linking
Analytics for Providing Insights
Multi-Language Support
Application Programming Interface Enhancement
Mobile Support
Version / Revision Control
Viewer / User Controls
Track Article Visits
Real Time Article Collaboration / Synchronous Editing
Drag and Drop Building Tool
Internal Employee Knowledge Base
Workflow Management
Article Drafting After Publication
Saves History of Article Changes
Incremental Search / Real-time Suggestions
Built-in Backup & Restore / Rollback
Project Management Features
Built-in Revision Workflow
Track Searches
Article Tags
Full HTML/CSS Customization
Article Public Comments / Discussion
Allows Article Voting / Rating
Design Theme Library
Single Sign-On Support
Multiple Format Import / Export
Self-Hosting Available
Support Ticket System
Live Chat Feature
Domain Path White-Label Option
Author / Editor Article Commentary
Article Suggestions on Contact Forms
XML Format Support
3rd Party Custom Widgets
Social Media Integration
Language Machine-Translation
Help Content Optimized for SEO
Search Synonyms
Multiple Brands in One Account
Built-in Glossary
Remote Configuration and Support
Voice Integration
Confluence recent versions have become more of an integrated collaboration platform. To add a caption to an image user must use a workaround, since there is no straightforward way provided. Confluence has many add-ons and provides great support.
Multiple Business Roles (SMEs, Developers, Admins, Editors, etc.)
Easy Article Linking
Analytics for Providing Insights
Multi-Language Support
Application Programming Interface Enhancement
Mobile Support
Version / Revision Control
Viewer / User Controls
Track Article Visits
Real Time Article Collaboration / Synchronous Editing
Drag and Drop Building Tool
Internal Employee Knowledge Base
Workflow Management
Article Drafting After Publication
Saves History of Article Changes
Incremental Search / Real-time Suggestions
Built-in Backup & Restore / Rollback
Project Management Features
Built-in Revision Workflow
Track Searches
Article Tags
Full HTML/CSS Customization
Article Public Comments / Discussion
Allows Article Voting / Rating
Design Theme Library
Single Sign-On Support
Multiple Format Import / Export
Self-Hosting Available
Support Ticket System
Live Chat Feature
Domain Path White-Label Option
Author / Editor Article Commentary
Article Suggestions on Contact Forms
XML Format Support
3rd Party Custom Widgets
Social Media Integration
Help Content Optimized for SEO
Search Synonyms
Multiple Brands in One Account
Built-in Glossary
Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning
Searchable PDF Attachments
MindTouch allows streamlining of processes like onboarding. It provides an easy format for editing. Some users feel the SharePoint app is quite complicated. There is work space and online storage, as a cloud service.
Multiple Business Roles (SMEs, Developers, Admins, Editors, etc.)
Easy Article Linking
Analytics for Providing Insights
Multi-Language Support
Application Programming Interface Enhancement
Mobile Support
Version / Revision Control
Viewer / User Controls
Track Article Visits
Real Time Article Collaboration / Synchronous Editing
Drag and Drop Building Tool
Internal Employee Knowledge Base
Workflow Management
Article Drafting After Publication
Saves History of Article Changes
Incremental Search / Real-time Suggestions
Built-in Backup & Restore / Rollback
Project Management Features
Built-in Revision Workflow
Track Searches
Article Tags
Full HTML/CSS Customization
Article Public Comments / Discussion
Allows Article Voting / Rating
Design Theme Library
Single Sign-On Support
Multiple Format Import / Export
Self-Hosting Available
Support Ticket System
Live Chat Feature
Domain Path White-Label Option
Author / Editor Article Commentary
Article Suggestions on Contact Forms
XML Format Support
3rd Party Custom Widgets
Social Media Integration
Language Machine-Translation
Help Content Optimized for SEO
Search Synonyms
Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning
UseResponse Platform is versatile and provides effective customer support. The software makes it easy for customers to connect / comment. It can be a challenging program to learn, if you aren't familiar with computer service systems.
Multiple Business Roles (SMEs, Developers, Admins, Editors, etc.)
Easy Article Linking
Analytics for Providing Insights
Multi-Language Support
Application Programming Interface Enhancement
Mobile Support
Version / Revision Control
Viewer / User Controls
Track Article Visits
Real Time Article Collaboration / Synchronous Editing
Drag and Drop Building Tool
Internal Employee Knowledge Base
Workflow Management
Article Drafting After Publication
Saves History of Article Changes
Incremental Search / Real-time Suggestions
Built-in Backup & Restore / Rollback
Project Management Features
Built-in Revision Workflow
Track Searches
Article Tags
Article Public Comments / Discussion
Allows Article Voting / Rating
Design Theme Library
Single Sign-On Support
Multiple Format Import / Export
Self-Hosting Available
Support Ticket System
Live Chat Feature
Domain Path White-Label Option
Author / Editor Article Commentary
Article Suggestions on Contact Forms
XML Format Support
3rd Party Custom Widgets
Social Media Integration
Search Synonyms
Multiple Brands in One Account
While Teamwork Desk has a pretty big learning curve with the many comprehensive features, the support staff are quite helpful. One such feature that users like is: setting project tasks directly from an email.
Multiple Business Roles (SMEs, Developers, Admins, Editors, etc.)
Easy Article Linking
Analytics for Providing Insights
Multi-Language Support
Application Programming Interface Enhancement
Mobile Support
Version / Revision Control
Viewer / User Controls
Track Article Visits
Real Time Article Collaboration / Synchronous Editing
Drag and Drop Building Tool
Workflow Management
Saves History of Article Changes
Incremental Search / Real-time Suggestions
Built-in Backup & Restore / Rollback
Project Management Features
Built-in Revision Workflow
Track Searches
Article Tags
Full HTML/CSS Customization
Article Public Comments / Discussion
Allows Article Voting / Rating
Design Theme Library
Single Sign-On Support
Self-Hosting Available
Support Ticket System
Live Chat Feature
Domain Path White-Label Option
Author / Editor Article Commentary
XML Format Support
3rd Party Custom Widgets
Social Media Integration
Language Machine-Translation
Help Content Optimized for SEO
Search Synonyms
Built-in Glossary
Voice Integration
While Teamwork Desk has a pretty big learning curve with the many comprehensive features, the support staff are quite helpful. One such feature that users like is: setting project tasks directly from an email.
Multiple Business Roles (SMEs, Developers, Admins, Editors, etc.)
Easy Article Linking
Analytics for Providing Insights
Multi-Language Support
Application Programming Interface Enhancement
Mobile Support
Version / Revision Control
Viewer / User Controls
Track Article Visits
Real Time Article Collaboration / Synchronous Editing
Drag and Drop Building Tool
Internal Employee Knowledge Base
Workflow Management
Article Drafting After Publication
Saves History of Article Changes
Incremental Search / Real-time Suggestions
Built-in Backup & Restore / Rollback
Project Management Features
Built-in Revision Workflow
Article Tags
Full HTML/CSS Customization
Article Public Comments / Discussion
Allows Article Voting / Rating
Design Theme Library
Single Sign-On Support
Multiple Format Import / Export
Self-Hosting Available
Support Ticket System
Live Chat Feature
Domain Path White-Label Option
Author / Editor Article Commentary
Article Suggestions on Contact Forms
XML Format Support
3rd Party Custom Widgets
Social Media Integration
Language Machine-Translation
Help Content Optimized for SEO
Search Synonyms
There’s been a few bugs with some of the integrations but HelpDocs provides great support. It’s a unique application and has an instant reply tool that customers like.
Multiple Business Roles (SMEs, Developers, Admins, Editors, etc.)
Easy Article Linking
Analytics for Providing Insights
Multi-Language Support
Application Programming Interface Enhancement
Mobile Support
Version / Revision Control
Viewer / User Controls
Real Time Article Collaboration / Synchronous Editing
Drag and Drop Building Tool
Workflow Management
Article Drafting After Publication
Saves History of Article Changes
Built-in Backup & Restore / Rollback
Project Management Features
Article Tags
Full HTML/CSS Customization
Article Public Comments / Discussion
Design Theme Library
Multiple Format Import / Export
Domain Path White-Label Option
Author / Editor Article Commentary
XML Format Support
Social Media Integration
Language Machine-Translation
Help Content Optimized for SEO
Multiple Brands in One Account
Built-in Glossary
Although there is a bit of a learning curve with HelpNDoc, this is an effective, single-source help and documentation authoring environment. Powerful features simplify the process: an advanced project analyzer to fix common mistakes, a live spell checker, conditional content generation based on topic status, output format or custom tags.
